We have daily activities at school and yesterday we had a discussion about education in Guatemala. It was quite depressing as I had expected.
Problems range from not having enough teachers and teaching materials, poor learning environments, government not giving enough support to discrimination and of course, poverty.
Teaching is actually the number 1 occupation in this country but because the public schools supported by the government and education only gets 2% of the GDP - before corruption, there are not enough teaching jobs. An average school in the city has 500 kids spread out over 6 grades and there are only 3 or 4 teachers. Kids in the rural areas face more problems with discrimination due to the different indigenous languages spoken and lack of clothing for the really poor kids. The government make great promises to get votes but doesnt do anything in reality. They promised new books and great snacks for the kids and the schools for 7 books and the kids get one small, stale cookie.
Our teacher who led the discussion see this first hand because she teaches at one of the public schools in a pueblo. One time she was invited to one of the kid's home for dinner and they got tortilla with some cheese. And I think that is a good meal.
There are private schools as well but unlike in the US, the teachers get paid less. The standards might be higher just because there are less kids in each class. My spanish teacher used to teach at a private school and she said she had to leave because of the corruption and disorganization. You would not believe how little these teachers get paid. At a private school, teachers get paid on paper about $110 a month but in fact, they only get about $50 because the school would pocket the rest. At a public school, they get about $200 a month but you have to pay someone (a third person and probably government officials) at least $150, usually more, to get a teaching job.
The sad thing is that the government has no intentions to educate it's people because all they care is money and the less the people know the less resistance. Guatemala has one of the most corrupt governments in the world and the most extreme rich-poor ratio and it is actually getting worse and not better.
It is quite depressing to think that these problems exist in many other countries around the world. It really didn't hit you until you are in one and see it first hand.
#in other less depressing news, I still haven't been able to download the photos from my digital camera but hopefully soon...but...Nick has been helping us update the website and there are now a few links to pictures on the right hand column.
Posted by Karen at December 05, 2002 10:45 PM